Stuttgart - After several brushes with the authorities over doping German cyclist Stefan Schumacher is now the first athlete to be caught twice in retests.
The German cycling federation BDR confirmed on Wednesday that Schumacher tested positive for the latest generation of the blood booster EPO, known as CERA, at new examinations of samples from last year's Beijing Olympics.
Almost two months ago Schumacher was banned for two years by the world governing body UCI for being caught using CERA in retests of samples from the 2008 Tour de France.
Schumacher, 28, was not available for comment immediately after Wednesday's news others reacted with disgust.
"I am very disappointed. What Stefan Schumacher has done here is deviousness at its worst," fumed German Olympic Committee general secretary Michael Vesper.
Schumacher's former Gerolsteiner boss Michael Holczer said he was lost for words and even the athlete's lawyer Michael Lehner admitted that "You can only gulp when you hear this."
But Schumacher has protested his innocence for months and is appealing the UCI ruling before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Schumacher gained fame at the 2008 Tour when he won both individual time trials and wore the overall leader's yellow jersey for two days at the famous French race.
He also has two Giro d'Italia stage wins from 2006 and came third in the 2007 world championship road race in Stuttgart.
The latter result was partly tainted after he submitted a suspicious blood sample before the worlds, but the BDR and the UCI allowed him to compete.
Schumacher tested positive for a stimulant in 2005 but was cleared because he was allowed to use it to treat hay fever. Traces of amphetamines were found in a blood sample after a car crash in October 2007, but no action was taken because the result came from a police test and not an official doping test.
Schumacher's teams included Telekom 2002-2003 and Gerolsteiner 2006-2008, both battered by doping.
Two other former Gerolsteiner riders have been implicated with CERA doping.
Italy's Davide Rebellin is among the six Olympic suspects while the original third-place 2008 Tour finisher Bernhard Kohl of Austria was banned for two years and confessed to doping since 2005.
Schumacher, by contrast, insisted on his home page in March: "One thing is very clear. I have not doped and I have nothing to hide." (dpa)
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